Guide Linwood Thornhill said his goal is to get some distance between his boat and others chasing stripers when possible. His experience has taught him that a thoughtful and isolated approach to the schooling action is best.

“Of course, if a school of fish blows up close to me, that’s where I’m going,” he said. “But a lot of times, active schools of fish will surface for a couple minutes, then sound, only to pop up again a couple hundred yards away.

“Depending on the location this may draw a crowd of boats, and if others don’t crowd the fish, the action remains good. But that’s when I use my binoculars to scan long distances searching for isolated schools of surface-feeding fish, far away from a crowd of boats. When I see that, I’ll ease away from the mob and go to them. I’ve found if I can get on a school by myself, we’ll generally catch more and larger fish.”

“I don’t leave schooling fish to look for other schools unless I see the birds working them,” he said. “But I do keep a close watch for other activity. This is a good practice anyway, because the school I’m working can shut off at any given time, and sometime, I’ll already have a backup or two in mind when it does.”